


connected

by labeledbones



Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 04:51:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10678044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labeledbones/pseuds/labeledbones
Summary: Lukas says, “Let’s go somewhere,” and they get on his bike, headed off somewhere deep in the middle of nothing.Lukas has an anniversary gift he wants to give Philip and basically this is just fluff.





	connected

Lukas says, “Let’s go somewhere,” and they get on his bike, headed off somewhere deep in the middle of nothing. They speed along a stretch of highway so flat and straight it makes Philip feel lightheaded, the way it never seems to end, the feeling that his body could melt into Lukas’ and they could just go on forever and ever. There is farm land on either side of them, and then sometimes just grass, a house set back far from the road, all of it blurring past them. 

Philip gets that blissful feeling of anonymity he used to get back in the city, but here it’s something deeper. It’s not just that no one around them cares who they are or even knows who they are. It’s the feeling that they are literally the only people in this exact place at this exact time. When Lukas pulls the bike over on the side of the road, Philip puts his feet on the ground and feels totally connected, totally aware of his place in the universe. 

Philip can’t explain it, but being on that bike with Lukas takes him somewhere else and then puts him right back where he belongs. 

They’ve stopped at one of those scenic overlooks where cars stop and look down at the river, look around at the trees and all their fall colors. Philip looks at these things too, but then he looks at Lukas with his hair caught in the wind, eyes squinting against the sun, his mouth set in a grin. Everything around them is so quiet and when Philip says, “You’re really beautiful, you know that?” he can almost hear it echo across the entire Hudson River Valley.

“Shut up,” Lukas blushes, proving Philip’s point. 

Philip reaches out for Lukas’ hand and they lean against the stone wall, looking out together. Lukas leans into Philip. “You’re beautiful, too,” he says quietly. He stands up straight again and reaches out to draw his thumb along Philip’s cheekbone. “Like, honestly, jesus fucking christ.” 

Philip laughs, shoving him a little. “Alright, calm down,” he says. 

Lukas’ hand drops down to his throat where his thumb presses just a little against Philip’s Adam’s apple. Philip feels that familiar warmth tighten up in his belly and he bites down on his bottom lip. 

“Okay, so why did you bring us out here?” he asks Lukas, trying to push down his desire until they’re somewhere a little less public, a little less cold. 

Lukas’ hand falls away completely and he starts to look nervous. “Um, I wanted to give you something,” he says, fumbling around in his pockets. 

“Okay,” Philip says slowly. 

Lukas leaves his hands in his pockets, and looks down at his feet, then back up at Philip. “So it’s been six months,” he says. 

“It has,” Philip says. They’d spent a long hot August afternoon in bed debating what day counted as their anniversary, and had eventually landed on the first time they went out after all the shit that went down, the first normal night they’d had since they met basically. All their other firsts were too muddled in tragedy for them to celebrate. 

“Yeah, so I wanted you to have this, I guess.” Lukas pulls something gold out of his pocket. 

“You got me jewelry?” 

“Shit,” Lukas is muttering under his breath. “The chain’s all tangled. Hold on.” 

Philip watches his fumbling fingers work to untangle the chain, and as he does, he realizes it’s a cross. Just a small gold cross on a chain. 

“Here,” Lukas says, holding it out to Philip once he’s got it unknotted. 

Philip takes the cross from him, the chain warm from Lukas’ fingers. “A cross?” 

“Yeah,” Lukas says. He rubs nervously at the back of his neck. “It was my mom’s.” 

Philip feels the air get knocked out of him. “Oh,” he says. “ _Oh_.” 

“Um, I got a different chain for it ‘cause I figured hers wouldn’t be long enough,” he says. 

“Oh,” is all Philip can manage to say. 

“If you don’t like it, I can just-” Lukas reaches back out for the necklace. 

“No!” Philip says, pulling his hand in closer to his body. “I like it,” he says. “I mean, Lukas- I love it. It’s just- Why give it to me? Doesn’t this mean a lot to you?” 

Lukas nods. “Yeah.” 

He steps forward and takes the cross out of Philip’s hand. Philip is about to protest again when Lukas unlatches the chain and takes another step forward to place it around Philip’s neck. His breath is against Philip’s ear as he latches it again. 

Lukas steps back again and Philip feels the cool weight of the cross settle against his skin, just below the dip between his collar bones. He reaches a hand up to touch it. Lukas is looking at him like he’s about to cry, and Philip doesn’t know what to say or do. The moment feels so big. 

“She wasn’t a super religious person, but she always wore that cross because she said it gave her hope,” Lukas says, kicking at the ground with the toe of his shoe. He shrugs and looks up at Philip. “I guess I wanted you to have it because you give me hope and I wanted to give you some too.” 

Philip still has moments where he doesn’t understand how he deserves this kind of love, or what he’s supposed to do with it. If he’s being honest, it makes him want to run sometimes. If he’s being honest, this moment right now fucking terrifies him because his heart fills up so fast, all at once. He hears himself laughing or maybe he’s crying. 

Lukas winces. “It’s stupid. Way too much, right? Giving you my dead mom’s cross?” 

Philip shakes his head, still holding the cross between his thumb and forefinger. He knows he’s never going to take it off. 

“Please come here and kiss me,” he says, trying to flatten out the tremors in his voice. 

They both take one step toward each other and then they’re kissing slowly but with all of themselves. Just as Philip feels himself running out of air, Lukas pulls back, eyes dark and locked on Philip’s. He reaches out a hand to touch the cross where it rests against Philip’s skin, rising and falling with Philip’s breathing. 

“I love you,” Philip says, feeling totally connected, totally aware of his place in the universe, his feet on the ground.


End file.
